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Wednesday Notebook: GULLANE, Scotland - In the last few days, Ive done about 10 radio shows back home and the consistent questions are: 1. How will Tiger play? 2. Whats up with Rory? 3. Can Phil really win this? 4. How is the course playing? And 5. How will Graham DeLaet play? In order, my responses: 1. I think I still have a few question marks surrounding the state of his game at the moment. He says his elbow is fine and it didnt show any signs of hurting him during practice but hes been off for a month so while I think hell play well, Im not betting on him. 2. Who knows? I dont even think Rory knows and it appears as if its starting to frustrate him, all these mediocre scores and all. He keeps saying hes close, and that hes had good rounds but not good consistency, but until he starts playing like he did at this time last summer, the questions about his clubs, his dedication, his girlfriend et al will continue, even if all of them are unfair and probably have no effect on his game, good or bad. Sometimes guys just dont play well. 3. Phil won on a links course, which is a good thing, an impressive thing, a surprising thing. But Phil winning at the Open to me is still a bit of a long shot. I do think he will be heard from at some point this week, but Im not sold yet that hes figured out how to mesh his immense talent with a links course. 4. Hard and fast. Think Hoylake in 2006. This is as hard and fast as weve seen an Open Championship in some time and I think the players are excited about the prospect. The weather is unseasonably warm (I packed three turtle necks and zero shorts) and the sun is shining. The wind is blowing but not hard which all adds up to tough pin placements or low scores. 5. Graham DeLaet looks confident. He looks relaxed and he seems prepared. I watched him on the range this week stinging three irons about 280 yards without getting six feet off the ground. I saw him bounce shots in from 160 and have them stop right by the pin. I also think he understands the mental test that awaits him but this is his first major and his first British Open so lets not put too much in the way of expectations on the guy (we can save that for next week). ------- It was predictable, of course. Not long after Peter Dawson, head of the R&A, and his pals sat down in front of the press, the questions about gender equality came spewing forth. Why, it was asked many times in many ways, was the R&A okay with holding the grandest of its championships at a facility that doesnt allow women to be members? Dawson bobbed and weaved, even seemed to get a little irritated, but in the end had to absorb countless body blows. There is no way for the R&A to win this one and Dawson probably knows it. After Augusta National admitted women members this past year, it left the R&A standing naked in a field. Of course the question isnt - or shouldnt be - whether or not clubs can be male or female only. Thats up to the club. Its whether or not the Open Championship should be held at such a facility. My answer is no. It will be a long, slow change if it happens, but the questions are going to keep coming until something changes. ------ My top five picks in no particular order: Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker and Sergio Garcia. My two darkhorses: Henrik Stenson and Brandon Grace. ------ Random thoughts: I watched David Duval hit a few shots today. He still looked pretty darn good with the club in his hands ... The golf course continues to get harder and faster with each day. One marshal told me that they watered an area where he was standing but the water they put on "wasnt enough to make a cup of tea." ... I ran into the amazing Judy Rankin on the course today. In my book, theres no one better as a walking reporter. Looking forward to working with her in Edmonton next month ... In the bet shops on Wednesday, Graham DeLaet was at 100/1. Tiger was still the favourite at 8/1. Ultra Boost Damen Outlet . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Adidas Nmd Xr1 Deutschland . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.nmdschuhesale.de/lite-racer-schuhe-deutschland.html . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Adidas Nmd Grosshandel Deutschland . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Ultra Boost 4.0 Weiß Deutschland . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Two old rivals going in opposite directions meet for the second time in 10 days Wednesday night in Dallas.The San Antonio Spurs (14-4) are off to the second-best start in team history and are undefeated (10-0) on the road. San Antonio had a nine-game winning streak snapped in a 95-83 loss to Orlando at home Tuesday night.The Dallas Mavericks (3-13) are off to the worst start in Mark Cubans ownership tenure. Dallas recently ended an eight-game slide, the longest since Cuban bought the club in 2000.The Mavericks will be without Dirk Nowitzki, whos out for at least the next two games recovering from a right Achilles tendon injury. Nowitzki already missed 11 games this season.Hes making gradual progress, but not enough to play him right now, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.The Mavericks picked up a win Sunday, beating New Orleans 91-81 and winning for only the second time at American Airlines Center this season. The victory was much needed.It helps a lot, Carlisle said. We have been close in a lot of games. The Cleveland game (128-90 loss on Friday) was a bad one, but we have been doing a lot of good things and have just been a little shorthanded.The win over the Pelicans began a stretch of eight of out 10 games at home.It doesnt matter in this league, Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews said. You have to give everything you have and be prepared every single night no matter where you are. Weve dropped home games and weve dropped road games, but it does feel good to get a win in front of these fans.Harrison Barnes, averaging a career-high 20.8 points, picked up the scoring load with Nowitzkis continued absences. Barnes scored at least 20 points nine tiimes in 16 games after doing so on only six occasions last season with Golden State.ddddddddddddThe Spurs are the fifth team in NBA history to start at least 10-0 on the road, which is also a franchise-best winning streak away from home. The Warriors own the best road start, opening 14-0 last season.San Antonio is 4-4 at home after losing just twice at the AT&T Center a season ago.Its hard to explain even for us, as players who are on the floor competing, Spurs center Pau Gasol said. Its not like were trying to lose games at home and then go on the road and get all of them. We understand the importance of each and every game, but its going to have to translate into better play at home, especially.The Spurs had a season-high 19 turnovers and a season low in points against the Magic.Energy could have been a little better at the beginning, Gasol said. I think we fought back and had pretty good intensity, but they were just disrupting our offense.Dallas visited San Antonio on Nov. 21, though the contest hardly resembled what fans have grown accustomed to when the Spurs and Mavericks hook up. Even with their current rosters, San Antonios 96-91 victory was a mashup of player combinations and rotations.The Spurs rested Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge, while Dallas was without Nowitzki and Deron Williams. Kawhi Leonard scored 24 to lead San Antonio.The Spurs own the series in recent years against their longtime in-state rivals. San Antonio won six straight and 20 of the last 24 regular-season meetings with the Mavericks. ' ' '